Trisha Yearwood not only hosted CMA Country Christmas alongside Amy Grant, but she also performed as well. The Georgia native sang “O Holy Night,” performing alongside violinist Lindsey Stirling.
Ahead of her performance, Yearwood shared how her Christmas celebrations have evolved and changed, with the one constant always being time with her family and loved ones.
“My Christmases are always — they’ve changed over the years,” Yearwood said. “When my folks were here, my sister and I, no matter where we are in the world, we went to Georgia for Christmas, and we woke up Christmas morning at our house that we grew up in. And then once our parents passed, that tradition changed a little bit. My sister had children, and so Christmas was at her house. Now, my sister and I are the last standing Yearwood women, and so we celebrate together, our families. Everybody’s busy.
“My mom and dad were always like, ‘It doesn’t have to be on the day, as long as we’re together.,'” she continued. “And so that’s kind of how we approach it. And really, it’s just about that. It’s about being with the people that you love. That’s my favorite part about it.”
Yearwood admits she loves everything about the holiday season, including over-the-top decorations and the traditional rituals.
“I love the holidays,” Yearwood admitted. “I start getting in the mode around Thanksgiving, and I’m just full-on. I want to be the Griswolds. I want to decorate my house and all the things. I combine all the things about Christmas. I want to go to candlelight service on Christmas Eve, and I want to do al the things. I really get into the spirit of the season, hard.”
One tradition that Yearwood insists upon is decorating the Christmas tree every year with her husband, Garth Brooks, and his three daughters.
“The biggest tradition we’ve done since the girls were little is to decorate the tree together, and even though we are all in different places and the girls are grown, that is still a tradition,” Yearwood previously revealed (via The Boot).
“Our tree might get decorated at Thanksgiving, it might get decorated the day before Christmas, but that is the one thing we hold true to,” she continued. “And the girls, when they were little — I know we’re all the same way, but [there are] things your parents do when you’re a kid that you’re like, ‘Ugh, why are we doing this?’ As you get older, it becomes important to you.”
In addition to “O Holy Night,” Yearwood joined Grant on “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” and sang “Joy To The World” also with Grant, accompanied by Stirling. Other performers for CMA Country Christmas included Jordan Davis, Lady A, Ashley McBryde, Jon Pardi, Lindsey Stirling, The War And Treaty, Zach Williams and Lainey Wilson.
CMA Country Christmas will have an encore performance on Wednesday, December 20, at 10:00 PM ET on ABC. The show is also streaming now on Hulu and Disney+.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of ABC